Machine for sharpening cutting instruments.



` M. S. WEAVER.

MACHINE FOR SEARPENING CUTTING INSTRUMENTS.

ABELIUATION FILEDAPR. 22, 1912.

3. m 1. 1, m M WM. V ...1.1. m m Il E m HIIIIIII.. Lb 2 w NN. .om t a P N um m m KN mw ww. m [i Q .mw WN ww mw ww 1li lllill ...my

"hun l Hlulllnm M. S. WEAVER. MACHINE IoII SHARPENIIIG CUTTING INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22, 1912.

UIMM Il Patented UCI. 2%, 1913.

WITNESQSS ,altern s. waarna, or annusare errar, rnirunssnn.

atacar-nn rea sii-maresme corriera ritsen-manure.

linee/irisation ol? tetten-s ltatent.

lmatented et.. 2d, tdi,

dpplication tiled April 22, i912. llerial lilo. 692,220.

.To all 'whom t may concern Be it lrnown that l, Manvln S. Weaver, a citizen or the United States, residing at Johnson City, in the county oi Washington and State ot Tennessee, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Machines ior Sharpening Cutting instruments, ot which the following is a specification, reterenc'e heing had to the accompanying drawing.

My improvement relates particularly to apparatus for sharpening razors and other blade-term cutting instruments.

The 'chiel object ot the invention is to provide a mechanism adapted to serve as a substitute for a hand strop for the sharpening ci razors and other hladedorm cutting tools.

ln the accompanying drawings; Figure l. is iront elevation ol a machine embodying my improvement; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, loolting toward the right in Fig. l, the belts having been removed; Fig.4

d is a rear elevation, loolring toward the right in F ig. 2; Fig. l is a horizontal section f on the line, fil-4;, or Fig. l; Fig. i is a sec tion on the line, 5-5, ot' Fig. 3; Fig. t5 is a section on the line 6 6, ot Fig. 3.

llteierring to said drawings, 1d, is a table or shelt to which Amy machine is applied, and B, is a cushion resting upon the table, il... 'lhe operative parts oit the machine are mounted upon a hase, l. From the rear portion ot the base rise two pedestals, 2, 2, each havinp,n a horizontal hearing, 3. ln the term' shown in the drawings, said pedestals are integral with said base. At the iront ol? the base and opposite each pedestal is a standard, d, secured to the base hy set screws, 5,

and each having in its upper end a horizonad" tal hearing, 6, horizontally in line with the hearing, 3, in one oit the opposite pedestals, 2. From each pedestal rises a column, 7, which, in the form shown, is integral with its pedestal. Each column has an upright groove, 8 forming a screw seat. d yolre, 9, loosely surrounds each column and is adjustable up and down by means ot an upright supporting screw, 10, the lower end of which rests upon the column, 7. d setscrew, 1l, extends horizontally through the yoke and into the groove, 8, to prevent rotation of the yoke andto bind the yoke against upward movement. vln thelportion ot the yoke above the column, 7, 1s a horizontal hearing, 12, and horizontally opposlte said hearing is another hearing, 13, 1n which 1s a bearing bloeit, lli, adapted to he driven upward by the upright screw, l5. 'lhe yolre, 9, 1s a movable section', and the portion thereof which surrounds the column forms a socket which 1s at one side oit" said section so that the hearings ed said section are at one side ot the arial line or' said column. i

'llwo parallel pulleys, lh, have shafts, i7, one end or" each shalt resting in one ont the hearings, 3, and the other end resting in the opposite bearing, n. 'll'wo similar pulleys, ld-have shafts, lil, resting similarly in the bearings, l2 and i3, the forward ends ot said shafts resting on the bearing blocks, lll. For convenience in description, the two pulleys (i6 and lli) at the same side oi the machine will he regarded as a pair.

Each pedestal and the column, yolre, and pulleys applied thereto constitute a support lor a strop or belt, as hereinafter described.

Fach ci' the shafts, il, is eirtended rearward oit its pedestal, 2, tar enou h to receivo a worm gear wheel, 20. aid two worm gear wheels mesh with a worm, 2l, located between said wheels and mounted on an upright shatt, 22, which entends downward through an opening', 23, in the hase, l, and an opening, 2d, in the table, il.. d motor, tl, is applied to said shalt tor driving the latter, and said motor is secured to the lower :tace oit the table by means oi brackets, 25.. 'lihe two pulleys ot each pair, the lower pulley and the upper pulley on the same support, are surrounded by an endless strop or belt, 2G, each strop having a flat tace opposite and adjacent a corresponding tace on the other belt; and in the particular form shown by the drawings, said laces are parallel to each other, the i'our pulleys having the same diameter and the axes of the pulleys of each pair being in an upright plane. 'lhe two pairs of pulleys are separated suf iciently to leave a space a little more than the thickness ot a bladeMblade thicknessbetween the adjacent laces of the two strops an upright rest, 27, rises (See Figs. 2 and d.) Said rest removed by withdrawing the screws, 5, the standards being replaced when the belts have been applied. Any desired tension is given to the belts by forcing the yokes, 9, upward by means of the supporting screws, 10. The front end of the shaft, 19, may be further adjusted by means Aof the screw, 15.

The belts or strops are formed of a material and with an exterior lworking face having a nish or dressing adapted to the sharpening of blade-form cutting tools like razors, carving knives, etc.,- by a stropping operation-the relative movement of the cutting tool and the strop one on the other, the tool resting flatwise against the working face of one or the other of the strops. The working faces of the strops may be varied in dressing or nish for tine or relatively coarse work. The motor shaft and worm are driven in the proper direction for turning the adjacent portions of the worm wheels upward, so that the adjacent portions of the two belts or strops will travel upward.

In operation, the blade of the razor or Other cutting tool, D, to be stropped, is placed into the blade space between the adjacent faces of the strops, 26, above the rest, 27, with the back of the blade downward and the edge upward, (see Figs. 1 and 2), the strops being in motion and the adjacent portions or faces moving upward as above described. The blade is pressed sidewise and iatwise against one of the strops and then against the other, the alternation of application of the two sides of the blade being made approximately as is done while stropping on the ordinary hand strop. While the blade-is free from the strops or while it is in contact with one of them, the blade may be moved forward and rearward so as to make all portions of the edge in turn bear against the strops; and while the blade is lying flatwise against one of the strops, the length of the blade may be kept at right angles or turned diagonally to the length of the strop.

For the purpose of analyzing this apparatus, it may be assumed that an upright plane extends through the machine midway between and parallel to the adjacent faces of the two strops and the two pairs of pulleys. The knife or blade, D, which is to be sharpenedk lies in said plane when said blade vis midway between the adjacent portions of the belts and is upright-edge up and back down. During the sharpening operation, said knife oscillates through said plane, the movement having its axis along the back of the blade. But the back of the blade may also be moved sidewise, if the space between the adjacent belt faces is relatively wide. Hence said plane may be called the blade plane and the space along said plane, be-

tween said belts, and forward andl rearward of said belts as far as the/blade ordinarily extends during the sharpening operation,

and above said belts used for the insertion .blade forward and backward and upward and downward without bringing the edge of the blade into contact with anything else than the strops. The lower portion of such blade space is terminated by the upper end of the motor shaft, 22, and the knife rest, 27, when the latter is used. Said rest is not an essential but merely a convenience. The blade may be held by the'hand of the operator so as to be supported by said rest or so as to be entirely clear thereof. And said rest, when used, may be of any desired height. Extending the blade space above the strops is important in view of the fact that the strops tend to lift the blade and may do so when the grip of the hand on the blade is inadvertently released.

For different kinds of work, the tension on the belts or strops may be varied by adjusting the yokes, 9, by means of the supporting screws, 10, as already described.

It is to be observed that the blade is kept in proper relation with the working face of one strop and then the other; and it is to be observed that the velocity of linear travel of these endless strops over the side of the.

blade can be made'much greater than can the converse movementof the blade over the strop by hand stropping. In practice, it has been feasible to make the strops of my machine travel several hundred feet per minute.

A number ofpairs ofstrops differing in the finish or dressing of their working faces may be applied interchangeably to the pulleys for ne and coarse stropping.

Movement of the mechanism for adjusting the belts is parallel to the belts. Hence the parallel relation of the adjacent portions of the paths of the belts is not disturbed by any adjustment of tension. The adjacent faces of the two belts remain parallel to each other and at the same distance from each other.

By placing the adjacent faces of the belts parallel to each other. the relation of the blade to the adjacent faces of the belts remains the same when the blade is turned out of the horizontal so that the length of the blade is placed diagonally (Fig. 2), instead of at right angles to the length of the adj acent strop faces.

Since the two adjacent belt faces are sepanoveno-l rated trom each other, either side oit the blade may be pressed against the adjacent belt as long as may be desired tor reducing that side of the blade. Furthermore, the blade may be held at any height and yet the sidewise movement ol the blade to make engagement with the belts will b-e the saine.

lt is also to be noted that, since the knife is held by the hand., it can easily be put into position and quickly removed tor inspection. No holding mechanism to which the kniie must be fitted and secured is necessary.

By placing the working portions oi the two endless strops upright, gravity does not act unequally upon the blade to be sharpened. lf said working faces were horizontal, the weight ofthe blade andthe weight ot the hand would be added to the muscular action of the hand and arm when the blade is turned against the lower strop, and when the blade is turned to bear against the upper strop, the weight olf the blade and hand would decrease the upward pressure eX- erted by the hand. By placing the working faces ot the belts upright and placing the rest, 2l', across the blade plane, said rest may support the weight oi' the hand and the blade so that only muscular elltort is involved in applying the blade to said working tacesi rthis allows a delicate ma nipulation. llurtliermore, the manipulation is balanced, being the same at each side ot' the blade plane,

lclaim as my invention:

1. ln an apparatus ot the nature described, the combination et two belts, two upright belt supports the upper portions ot which are isolated and apart trom each other and each vcomprising a stationary portion having horizontal bearings tor a pulley and a movable section having horizontal bearings for a pulley, the stationary portion comprising a column, and said movable sec tion having an upright socket receiving the upper end of said column, said socket being at v one side of said section so that the bearings ot said section are at one side of the axial line of said column, an adjusting screw extending downward through said section and bearing upon the upper end of said column, pulleys having journals in said bearings, one of said belts being mounted on one pair and the other on the other pair ot' said pulleys and said pairs of pulleys being separated a proper dist-ance to separate the adjacent faces of the belts by a blade space a little wider than blade thickness, and means for driving said pulleys for moving said adjacent faces upward, substantially as described.

2. lin an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of two belts, two upright belt supports the upper portions of which are isolated and apart from each other and each comprising a stationary portion having horizontal bearings for a pulley and a movable section having horizontal bearings ior a pulley, the stationary por tion comprising a column, and said movable section having an upright socket receiving the upper end ot said column, said socket being at one side of said section so that the bearings cisaid section are at one side ot the aitial line oit said column, an adjusting screw extending downward through said section and bearing upon the upper end of said column, pulleys having journals in said bearings, one ci said belts being mounted on one pair and the other on the other pair ot' said pulleys and said pairs ol pulleys being separated a proper distance to separate the adjacent taces olZ the belts by a blade space a little wider than blade thickness, and means :tor driving said pulleys tor moving said adjacent laces upward, a bearing block in one et the bearings ot said upper section,

and means tor raising said block, substan-v tially as described.

3. ln an apparatus ol the nature den scribed, the combination of two belts, two upright belt supports the upper portions ot which are isolated and apart from cach other and each comprising a stationary portion having horizontal bearings :lor a pulley and a movable section having horizontal bearings tor a pulley, the stationary portion comprising a column, and said movable section having an upright socket receiving the upper end ot said column, said socket being one side ot said section so that the bearings ot said section are at one side oi' the arial line ot said column, an adjusting screw extending downward through said section and bearing upon the upper end ot said column, pulleys having journals in said bearings, one ot saidy belts being mounted on one pair and the other on the other pair of said pulleys and said pairs oit pulleys heiiig separated a proper distance to sepa- 'ate the adjacent faces oit the belts by a blade space a little wider than blade thickness, and means for driving said pulleys for moving said adjacent faces upward, a bearing block in one ot the bearings of the upper sections, and extending upward through said section and against said block, substanv tially as described.

at. ln an apparatus of the nature described, the combination of two belts, two upright belt supports the upper portions of which are isolated and apart from each other and each comprising a stationary portion having horizontal bearings for a pulley and a movable section having horizontal bearings for a pulley, the stationary portion comprising a cylindrical column having an upright screw seat and said movable section having an upright socket receiving the upper end ot said column, said socket being at one side of said section so that the bearings lll@ of' saidsection are at one side of the axial line of said column, a screw extending horizontally through the wall of said socket against said screw seat, an adjusting screw extending downward through said section and bearing upon the upper end of said column, pulleys having journals in said bearings, one of said belts being mounted on one pair and the other on the other pair of said pulleys and said pairs of pulleys being separated a proper distance to separate the adjacent faces of the belts by a blade space a little wider'than blade thickness, and means for driving said pulleys for moving said adjacent faces upward, substan- 15 tially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed mty name, in presence of two-witnesses, this ii teenth day of April, inthe year one thousand nine hundred and twelve.

MARVIN S. WEAVER.

Witnesses:

Giro. L. WADE, H. M. BURLESON. 

